The Jepson Center and the Telfair Academy will be open free to Savannah and Chatham County residents August 21.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, both of Telfair Museums’ sites on Telfair Square will offer free admission in partnership with the City of Savannah. Face masks are required inside the buildings, according to city policy. For more on Telfair’s safety procedures, visit telfair.org/hours-admission.

Visitors to the Free Family Day are invited to tour current exhibitions, including the related presentations Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections at the Jepson Center and Progressive Regression: Examination of a 19^thCentury Museum at the Telfair Academy. The exhibitions consider how museums have put together their collections over the past 300 years and present a variety of objects, including a 22-foot whale skeleton and artifacts from “The Ten Commandments” (1923) movie set.

“We invite Savannah and Chatham County families to enjoy free admission to the Jepson Center and Telfair Academy with a focus on art and science connections,” said Harry DeLorme, Telfair’s director of education. “For health and safety, the event will take place over a full day and will be spread between two museum buildings, and activities will be contact-free. Hands-on activity kits for children will include an ‘archeology dig in a cup’ to try at home and mini-sketchbooks to use in the galleries. Family Day visitors should also check out a great new exhibition of art by our dedicated Savannah-Chatham County art teachers at the Jepson Center.”

Other exhibitions currently on view include Curators’ Choice, a selection of compelling works from Telfair’s 7,000-piece permanent collection; Before Midnight: Bonaventure and the Bird Girl; works by Savannah artists Kelly Boehmer and Sauda Mitchell; and more.

How sugar shaped our history

Also on view at the Jepson Center is Sugar, an exploration of Savannahians’ sweet culinary habits since the city’s founding, which opened July 30. Using furnishings and portraits from Telfair’s permanent collection, Sugar gives visitors a glimpse into humans’ connection to sugar and its complicated history.

“Porcelain and silver were shipped from Europe and beyond into the Port of Savannah during the 19^th century, providing the city’s elite with purchasing options far surpassing those of inland towns,” explained Cyndi Sommers, the exhibition’s curator. 

Featuring practical items such as tables, chairs, and tongs, and elaborate decorative pieces, the show highlights everyday objects once used here in Savannah for the enjoyment of baked confectionaries, syrupy fruit compotes, and sweetened drinks. Tables are set, complete with linen, and “populated” by the people who inhabit the portraits hung within the gallery.

For more about all the exhibitions currently on view, visit telfair.org/exhibitions.